After six prescient seasons that have captured timely and social injustices from inside prison walls, including a 2018 finale that took on the immigration crisis, OITNB will be challenging other shows to pick up that mantel when it fades away from Litchfield this summer.

“It feels so gratifying. I feel so like it’s ready to happen and it’s ready to end,” says Schilling, echoing how she felt heading into the season. “I feel like we’ve told the stories and that it’s time. I don’t feel like any stone is left unturned. I think it did what it came to do. And now, in the Trump era, there are new stories to tell.”

On Natasha Lyonne

Schilling called Lyonne a remarkable director after working with her on OITNB: “She has a very unique sensitivity to other people and that makes for a really special and insightful director,” she tells THR